The present invention concerns a photodetection system that analyzes a luminous flux received on a line, and a process for analyzing such luminous flux.
Multipath or multichannel detectors comprising several photo-detectors mounted side by side are fitted to take simultaneous measurements of a luminous flux in several adjacent zones. They can be used equally well for taking measurements in a single dimension and in two dimensions, the photo-detectors being mounted either in strip or matrix configuration respectively.
A multichannel photodetection system usually comprises the photo-detectors mounted side by side, amplifiers connected to the photo-detectors and a processing unit connected to the amplifiers, the latter including at least one analog-digital converter. The processing unit also includes means for multichannel processing connected to the analog-digital converter. This type of multichannel photodetection system comprising a strip of photo-detectors is capable of analyzing a luminous flux received on a line, each photo-detector receiving a portion of the luminous flux coming from one zone of the line, the various zones being adjacent.
A drawback of this type of multichannel photodetection system is its cost. Moreover, any change in the properties of the photo-detectors, for example in their sensitivity, can only be remedied by replacing the entire strip of photo-detectors.